Operations Management

By
Adeel ur Rehman
Faculty Member- IQRA University
Chapter 11- Lean Synchronization
• Lean synchronization has the aim of using ‘lean’ or ‘just-in-time’ (JIT)
principles to supply perfect quality products and services in
synchronization with the demand for them, with zero waste, and at
low cost
• The topic is sometime narrowly treated as a manufacturing
phenomenon (perhaps unsurprisingly given the pioneering role of
Toyota in lean management), lean synchronization principles can be
applied, should be applied and are applied across all sectors, including
finance, healthcare, IT, retailing, construction, agriculture and the
public
Benefits of lean synchronisation
• The focus of lean synchronisation is to achieve a flow of products and
services that delivers exactly what customers want, in exact
quantities, exactly when needed, exactly where required and at the
lowest possible cost
• The central idea is that if products, customers, or information flow
smoothly, not only is throughout time reduced, but the negative
effects of in-process inventory or queues are avoided.
Seven Wastes (Ohno’s Waste)
• Overproduction: Producing more than the customer orders or producing
early (before it is demanded) is waste
• Queues: Idle time, storage, and waiting are wastes (they add no value)
• Transportation: Moving material between plants or between work centers
and handling it more than once is waste
• Inventory: Unnecessary raw material, work-in-process (WIP), finished goods,
and excess operating supplies add no value and are wastes
• Motion: Movement of equipment or people that adds no value is waste.
• Overprocessing: Work performed on the product that adds no value is waste.
• Defective product: Returns, warranty claims, rework, and scrap are wastes
Barriers to lean synchronisation
• First is the failure to eliminate waste in all parts of the operation; and
the causes of waste are more extensive than is generally understood
• The second is a failure to involve all the people within the operation
in the shared task of smoothing flow and eliminating waste
• Japanese proponents of lean synchronisation often use a set of ‘basic
working practices’ to ensure involvement
• Third is the failure to adopt continuous improvement principles
Is flow streamlined?
• Long process routes are wasteful and cause delay and inventory build-
up
• Physically reconfiguring processes to reduce distance travelled and aid
cooperation between staff can help to streamline flow
• Similarly, ensuring flow visibility helps to make improvement to flow
easier
• Sometimes this can involve small-scale technologies that can reduce
fluctuations in flow volume
Supply exactly match Demand
• The aim of lean synchronisation is to meet demand exactly; neither
too much nor too little, and only when it is needed
• Pull control principles are typically used to achieve this goal
• The most common method of doing this is the use of kanbans - simple
signalling devices that prevent the accumulation of excess inventory
Processes Flexibility
• Responding exactly to demand only when it is needed often requires
a degree of flexibility in processes, both to cope with unexpected
demand and to allow processes to change between different activities
without excessive delay
Minimization of Variability
• Variability in processes disrupts flow and prevents lean
synchronisation
• Variability includes quality variability and schedule variability
• Statistical process control (SPC) principles are useful in reducing
quality variability
• The use of levelled scheduling and mixed modelling can be used to
reduce flow variability and total productive maintenance (TPM) can
reduce the variability caused by breakdowns
The river and rocks analogy
• The many problems of the operation are shown as rocks in a riverbed
that cannot be seen because of the depth of the water
• The water in this analogy represents the inventory in the operation
Yet, even though the rocks cannot be seen, they slow the progress of
the river’s flow and cause turbulence
• Gradually reducing the depth of the water (inventory) exposes the
worst of the problems which can be resolved, after which the water is
lowered further, exposing more problems, and so on. The same
argument applies for flow between whole processes or whole
operations
Synchronisation, ‘lean’ and ‘just-in-time’
• lean synchronisation aims to meet demand instantaneously, with
perfect quality and no waste’
• The concept of ‘lean’ stresses the elimination of waste, while ‘just-in-
time’ emphasises the idea of producing items only when they are
needed
Lean operations. The 5Ss
• Sort/segregate: Keep what is needed and remove everything else
from the work area
• Simplify/straighten: Arrange and use methods analysis tool
• Shine/sweep: Clean daily; eliminate all forms of dirt, contamination,
and clutter from the work area
• Standardize: Remove variations from the process by developing
standard operating procedures and checklists
• Sustain/self-discipline: Review periodically to recognize efforts and to
motivate to sustain progress.
The Additional Ss
• Safety: Build good safety practices into the preceding five activities
• Support/maintenance: Reduce variability, unplanned downtime, and
costs. Integrate daily shine tasks with preventive maintenance
Muda, Mura, Muri- the Japanese terms
• Muda – are activities in a process that are wasteful because they do
not add value to the operation or the customer
• Mura – means ‘lack of consistency’ or unevenness that results in
periodic overloading of staff or equipment
• Muri – means absurd or unreasonable. It is based on the idea that
unnecessary or unreasonable requirements put on a process will
result in poor outcomes